Chains
by SweetHawthorn
Summary: Ryoma Hoshi was given a chance at Hope's Peak Academy despite his past crimes. How will he handle it? Can he forgive his past sins and find a new purpose in life? Set in the world of Ultimate Talent Development Plan.


**This is set in the Ultimate Talent Development Plan world, so all the cast from the three games are in the same year but different classes. I thought Ryoma's background and character was interesting to further develop. I'm testing this out, so let me know if you guys liked it.**

 **...**

Ryoma Hoshi tossed his last jacket into the duffel bag that lay wide open on the floor. That concluded his packing, although he never had much to begin with. The bag was only half full and it wasn't even a big one to begin with.

 _Is this really happening?_ he wondered. He walked up to his desk. It took barely three steps from his bed where he had been packing. He took a letter, which laid open beside a dusty photo frame, and reread the slightly ragged letter for what was probably the hundred and first time:

 _Dear Mr Ryoma Hoshi,_

 _We are pleased to inform you that you have been invited to join Hope's Peak Academy, with the title of Ultimate Tennis Pro._

 _With regards to the sentence that you are serving, know that we have negotiated with the authorities to let you out on early parole, provided that you serve house arrest within Hope's Peak Academy's school compounds._

 _Included in this mail is the enrolment guide for our school. Term begins on 1st April._

 _We await your confirmation to this letter._

 _Sincerely,_

 _Jin Kirigiri_

 _Headmaster_

 _Early parole? Hope's Peak Academy sure is as powerful as they said_ , Ryoma thought as he carefully folded the letter, and placed it in his bag. His eyes then turned back towards the photo frame. He lifted the frame up and cleaned the glass with his sleeve. Almost immediately, he felt tears welling up in his eyes.

His father, round and short as he was, smiled his widest smile and waved back at the camera, whilst his mother, from whom he inherited his button nose, smiled serenely with one hand over Ryoma's shoulder. Ryoma stood in front of the pair with his own hand slung around his girlfriend, grinning in a way that he had forgotten how.

Before he could wallow in his memories, however, a harsh knock sounded on his bedroom door. 'Are you done?' a man's voice boomed. 'We need to catch the train.'

'Done,' Ryoma replied, placing the photo frame on top of his letter. He zipped up his bag and headed out the door.

…

The black gates of Hope's Peak Academy loomed before Ryoma and all around, students of various shapes and sizes flooded the gates. The two men in black suits walked in silence behind him, always two steps behind. Every once in a while, Ryoma would cast a quick glance behind. Not that he expected them to leave him, but as far as he could tell, he was the only one with an escort on his first day of high school.

As they neared that gate, one of the men finally spoke up. 'The sensor will activate as soon as you walk past those gates,' he nudged towards Ryoma's ankle where a black, bracelet-like device was clasped.

'Are you not gonna make sure that I get to the dorms safely?' Ryoma asked, his eyebrows arched.

The man, however, did not reply, but instead clasped his hand in front of him and stood back beside his partner.

Ryoma shook his head as he turned around and walked past the gates, the intensity of the men's stares still boring at the nape of his neck.

…

As Ryoma had expected, people whispered and steered clear of his way as he walked past. Surely, 'Ryoma Hoshi' must be a household name by now. This did not faze him. He lost interest in what people thought of him years ago. All he needed to do now was repent and survive three years of high school.

He was heading towards the headmaster's office after his orientation when an unexpected greeting came.

'Hey! You're in my class, aren't you?'

Ryoma turned around to see a blonde girl smiling at him. Beside her stood a black-clad boy with a cap obscuring his pale face. Unlike the girl who seemed confident and friendly, the boy looked hesitant and shy.

'I am,' Ryoma replied succinctly.

'Kaede Akamatsu,' the girl replied with a wide grin. She then turned towards the boy she came with and said, 'Go on Shuichi, introduce yourself!'

'I-I'm Shuichi Saihara,' the boy stuttered a little. _Well, it's pretty normal to be nervous on the first day of school_ , Ryoma thought.

'My name's Ryoma Hoshi,' he said, 'but I suppose you already knew.'

'I-I kinda knew,' now it was Kaede's turn to look nervous. She twirled the tips of her blonde hair as she averted her gaze from Ryoma.

'Then I would suggest that you stay away from a killer like me,' Ryoma replied as he turned back around.

Kaede's gaze turned to meet his once more. This time, Ryoma could see a flame flicker in her purple eyes. 'B-But you must have a reason for doing what you did, right?' she demanded, her voice turning firm in an instant.

'So, in the end, you wanna hear a story, is that it?' Ryoma replied in an icy tone. 'Go read the newspaper, they covered more than enough.' And with that, he left the confused duo behind.

…

'Ah Ryoma! Come have a seat,' Headmaster Kirigiri shuffled his papers aside whilst motioning for him to towards the chair across his desk.

Ryoma took a seat opposite the headmaster wordlessly.

'So, what do you think of the school so far?' Headmaster Kirigiri gave him a smile.

'It's grand,' Ryoma replied, 'but if you ask me, anything's better than a prison.'

Headmaster Kirigiri chuckled. 'Well, there are certain things that I wish to discuss with you before you start the school term. But before even that, perhaps you'd like to shoot some questions of your own.'

Ryoma paused for a moment before replying, 'the letter said that you negotiated with the authorities. Can you elaborate?'

Headmaster Kirigiri nodded. 'Well, to begin, I have to first say that you didn't put up much of a resistance during your trial. There were glaring pieces of evidence missing that could have set you up for a lighter sentence.'

'I lost everything when those mafia attacked my family and girlfriend,' Ryoma replied. 'I had no plans nor motivation past revenge.'

Headmaster Kirigiri shook his head. 'You are a talented person, Ryoma. And you're still young. You have a bright future ahead of you. If you don't have a plan, you can easily make one.'

'I _had_ a bright future,' Ryoma corrected him, 'but I knew that those people could not be convicted by law. So I brought them justice.'

'It's funny that you should mention justice considering how poorly you've been treating yourself,' Headmaster Kirigiri countered. 'Anyway, I had someone look into your case. A detective I trust. And from there we gathered all the necessary evidence to support your cause. After that, it's all relatively straightforward. We have connections within the upper echelons of the District Attorney's office and the police force. So we convinced them to reopen your case, submit the necessary evidence and reconsider your sentence. Of course, you _have_ committed a crime, so you wouldn't be able to get away scot-free. But still, you can't deny that this is much better than a prison sentence.'

'I appreciate the lighter sentence, really,' Ryoma said, 'but that being said, _why_? Why would you go through that trouble? The case didn't concern you at all.'

'I'll let you in on a little secret Ryoma,' Headmaster Kirigiri said, leaning forward, 'I come from a family of detectives, but ran away to pursue this career instead. Whichever way you look at it, I cannot stand by and watch such injustice done to a bright young mind such as yourself.'

Ryoma remained silent.

'Anyway, this should conclude our meeting,' Headmaster Kirigiri said, leaning back on his chair. 'I sincerely hope, Ryoma, that you learn to forgive your past and cultivate new relationships in this school. Have a good evening.'

…

Ryoma sat alone at the edge of the stadium after classes the next day, his meeting with the headmaster still replaying over and over in his head. He was given a second chance. But it all came so suddenly that he had trouble processing it, much less contemplate how to use it.

He bit hard on the candy cigarette that he had taken to chewing ever since he got to school. In prison, it was easy to sneak in stuff like cigarettes, but he wouldn't want to break a school rule as soon as he was given a chance at this new life.

'I've been looking for you,' a voice broke the umpteenth replay in his head. He turned around to see a rather short boy with buzz cut blonde hair standing beside him.

'Hmph, what do you need?' Ryoma continued biting on his candy.

'My name's Fuyuhiko Kuzuryu,' the boy introduced himself. 'You're Ryoma Hoshi, right?'

'Everybody knows that,' Ryoma replied, 'and they stay away.'

'You can't intimidate me like that,' Fuyuhiko's voice rose a notch. He sat down beside Ryoma. 'The mafia you took down, I knew them personally.'

'Oh so are you gonna take revenge on me?' Ryoma asked, finally taking an interest in talking to Fuyuhiko.

'I didn't say favourably,' Fuyuhiko shook his head. 'I'm a yakuza. And those people… they've cause quite a fair amount of trouble for our clan. So when you took them down, I remembered everybody in my clan raising their glasses in celebration.'

'Strange,' Ryoma remarked, 'this is the first time I ever heard of my deeds being perceived positively.'

Fuyuhiko smirked. 'If you only knew. The underworld is pretty vast, you know. When we heard that Ryoma Hoshi has been enrolled into Hope's Peak Academy, my clan has been telling me non-stop to properly thank him.'

'The school enrols the strangest choice of students…' Ryoma muttered.

'Anytime you need anything,' Fuyuhiko said as he stood up, 'whether in school or out, let me know.'

…


End file.
